


Birthday Boy

by Pollydoodles



Series: The Pizza Dog Chronicles [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 04:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5953974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollydoodles/pseuds/Pollydoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Darcy.”</p><p>“Woah, what the-“ Darcy had opened her eyes at the sound of her name, and found Bucky’s earnest face staring back at her. Not always the most surprising thing for her to find, but somewhat more surprising given she was still in bed at the time. She snatched the bed covers up to her chin and re-focused on him, trying to calm her racing heart. For his part, Bucky seemed unperturbed. </p><p>Darcy shuffled her way upright in the bed, still clutching the covers to her chest which was not otherwise adequately clothed. Stuffing back handfuls of unruly curls behind her ear with free hand, Darcy fought to take deep breaths. Bucky shoved the glass of water from her bedside table towards her and she took it gratefully. </p><p>“Right, well.” She said, re-setting the glass on the table after taking a long drag and wiping sleep from her eyes. “Now we’ve got the dramatics out of the way, how can I possibly help you, Buck?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Boy

“Darcy.”

“Woah, what the-“ Darcy had opened her eyes at the sound of her name, and found Bucky’s earnest face staring back at her. Not always the most surprising thing for her to find, but somewhat more surprising given she was still in bed at the time. She snatched the bed covers up to her chin and re-focused on him, trying to calm her racing heart. For his part, Bucky seemed unperturbed. 

Darcy shuffled her way upright in the bed, still clutching the covers to her chest which was not otherwise adequately clothed. Stuffing back handfuls of unruly curls behind her ear with free hand, Darcy fought to take deep breaths. Bucky shoved the glass of water from her bedside table towards her and she took it gratefully. 

“Right, well.” She said, re-setting the glass on the table after taking a long drag and wiping sleep from her eyes. “Now we’ve got the dramatics out of the way, how can I possibly help you, Buck?”

The man perched on the edge of her bed threw her a shy smile from behind the dark hair hanging in his face. He was dressed in his sleep wear; loose trousers and a Stark Industries t-shirt that had seen better days. Judging by the stretch on it, it had previously belonged to Steve, a man who didn’t appear to be able to judge clothing sizes to save his life. Anything that really didn’t fit got passed to Bucky, who didn’t seem to mind the hand-me-downs. Darcy assumed it made him feel more at home, some kind of throwback to the ‘30s when budgets were tighter. 

“It’s Pizza Dog’s birthday.” He said seriously, and Darcy could not have predicted in a million years that that was what was going to come out of Bucky’s mouth. 

“It is?” She replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Bucky nodded seriously, and she could see the look in his eyes that he got when something was important to him. He wasn’t going to let this one go. Darcy let her eyes slide over to the clock beside her bed, and noted that it was still before 6am. She groaned internally. Even Jane knew not to wake her before at least 8am, but Bucky had no sense of decorum that way. She blamed Steve, another man who seemed to prefer starting the day before the sun even wanted to get up. 

“Well, okay then. We need to get supplies.” She forced herself to be cheery, following the age old adage of fake it ‘til you make it. Bucky’s face lit up, and she thought sleepily that seeing that expression on his face was almost worth being scared awake at the ass-crack of dawn. Trust Steve to be away on a mission. 

Some hours later, they were in the common room and spread out across both kitchen and living room area. 

Darcy had thrown on some clothes – and forced Bucky to dress appropriately also – and driven them to the nearest pet store; it turned out that people other than Bucky placed importance on pet birthdays and they were able to load up with allsorts that Darcy would never even of dreamed of previously. She was amazed at being able to drop $200 on birthday supplies for a pet, but it was a Stark Industries credit card so she figured that it was hardly the most extravagant thing that it had ever been used for. 

Steve rang in the midst of the celebrations. 

“How is he?” Steve’s voice was strained and Darcy was pretty sure she could hear some kind of explosion in the background, but opted not to comment on it. There was a pause and then Steve stuttered out more words. “I mean you. You two. Both of you. Together.” Another pause. “And the dog.”

Darcy laughed, cutting across his embarrassment. “It’s okay, Cap. I don’t expect you to be calling for any reason other than Bucky. Especially not in the middle of battle.”

His voice was rueful as he answered. “I do care, Darcy. It’s not just about Bucky.”

“Yeah, yeah. I believe you, thousands wouldn’t.” She teased. “We’re all good here, Steve. Promise.” She looked over to Bucky who was in the process of trying to fit a party hat on the dog. The yellow Labrador dodged and weaved the elastic, pawing at Bucky who remained dedicated to the task at hand. She couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. She thought she might be able to see the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated hard on trying to fit the elastic over Lucky’s wiggling head. 

“Hey Buck.” She waved at him. “Say hi to Steve.” She thrust the phone towards him. 

“Hi, Steve,” Bucky said distractedly, roughly in the direction of the phone. 

“Hi Bucky,” Steve’s voice was tinny and thin over the loudspeaker function but Bucky paused momentarily in his ministrations to glance properly at the phone when it spit out Steve’s words. Darcy was never entirely sure whether Bucky really got the concept of phones. The look that passed over his face momentarily as he regarded the handset made her think he was probably wondering where Steve actually was. 

“Having a good day?” Steve’s disembodied voice asked Bucky and the dark-haired man paused before answering. 

“YES,” he said loudly, too loudly, and Darcy bit back a laugh. “WE ARE HAVING A NICE DAY, STEVE.” With that, he nodded to himself and turned his attention back to Lucky, who was now wearing the party hat. Albeit under his chin, like some paper goatee. Darcy brought the phone back to her ear, shaking her head and chuckling. 

“You get that?” She said conversationally, and that definitely was an explosion in the background. She could hear Steve laughing through the crackling on the phone line and it warmed her heart to hear it. Steve was a good guy but he didn’t laugh too much. Darcy thought he needed to let go more, be less serious. Then again, no one could conceivably accuse Darcy of ever being particularly serious, so perhaps she wasn’t the best person to judge. 

Bucky had finally gotten the hat the right way up on the dog – more or less – and had now turned his attention to the birthday cake Darcy had managed to procure. It was totally dog friendly, and decorated with blue bones. She’d managed to dissuade him from candles, reasoning that a burned dog or indeed a burned Bucky – or worse, a burned tower – wouldn’t endear her to anyone. Thankfully, he’d accepted it. Presenting the dog with a generous slice of cake in a bowl, Bucky sat back with a wide smile on his face that lit up his dark features like Christmas. 

“Hey, Steve?” She said quietly into the phone, and he responded with a grunt which she hoped meant that he was listening and also not in any trouble. Or at least, in any trouble that her being on the phone to him might have caused. “I have a quick question.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Steve huffed out quickly, and Darcy was pretty sure that he was fighting at the same time he was talking to her. She resolved to make it fast. 

“When’s Bucky’s birthday?” 

“It’s-“ the line broke, and all Darcy could hear was static occasionally mixed with grunts and what sounded an awful lot like metal hitting flesh. “It’s March –“ Another pause, and a sickening snapping sound that Darcy   
sincerely hoped was the other guy and not Steve. “March 10th –oh shit.” Steve’s voice suddenly came over the phone loud, clear and full of regret. 

“Language, Cap.” Darcy said slowly, eyes on Bucky, who was cracking up as the dog wolfed down the rest of the doggy birthday cake, party hat askew. 

“Darce – oh jeez, I’m a terrible friend.” Steve’s voice sounded like his heart was breaking right there and then. 

“No, you’re not.” She said firmly. “You’re a guy who’s out saving the world, and I’m the girl who’s keeping your best friend happy until you can get back and celebrate properly.” Steve exhaled heavily in her ear, but said nothing. “Anyway, we’re good. You heard him. WE’RE HAVING A NICE DAY.” She finished by hollering down the phone and was rewarded by a short laugh from the Captain. 

“Okay.” He said heavily, and she knew he was still beating himself up for forgetting. “Keep him happy and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, I know you will.” She smiled down the phone, hoping that he could hear it in her voice. “Now go kick ass, Cap.”

“Roger that.” Steve bit out, then hung up. 

Darcy looked down at the phone in her hand, then back up at Bucky, who was now brushing the dog vigorously. Lucky was giving the bowl another good lick round, just in case he’d missed anything – he hadn’t, not by a long shot – and was looking pretty pleased with himself, party hat and all. 

“Hey Buck.” Darcy said lightly. “What do you say we get some cake for us, huh?” The dark-haired man looked up at her, still brushing, his blue eyes fixing on her own inquisitively. “Would you like some birthday cake too? So we can share in Lucky’s big day?”

“Okay.” He answered slowly. “Can we get candles?” Bucky looked up at her hopefully, and she smiled back at him. 

“Yeah, we can get candles. It’s just dogs that can’t have candles. Because of the fur.” Bucky nodded seriously at her words and whispered something to the dog she couldn’t make out. She assumed it was some explanation or admonishment about naked flames and dogs. 

“Can we have sponge cake?” Bucky’s voice was small. “I like sponge cake.” 

“You can have whatever cake you like best, Buck.” Darcy promised. 

When Steve returned later that evening, bloodied, suit ripped in several places and a few interesting new scratches that were already starting to heal as he walked through the doorway, he was greeted with the sight of Darcy and Bucky sat together, both wearing party hats, an enormous sponge cake half-eaten and discarded on the kitchen counter and Lucky curled up in front of them, his own party hat now dangling once more under his chin. 

“Room for one more?” He grinned, and Darcy threw a party hat his way.


End file.
